Rob Cohen was the director of the original xXx and the first The Fast and the Furious and he combines his love of high octane adventure with the basic premise of The Perfect Storm to and throws in the plot of a heist movie in this film which like the hurricane it describes becomes a force of nature in itself and rambles along wherever fancy takes it. It’s chock-a-block with so many improbabilities that after a point your kind of stop counting.

Brothers Will (Toby Kebbell) and Breeze (Ryan Kwanten) saw their father being killed when a water tank falls on his twenty five years ago and grew up to be two very different individuals. While Will is a PhD holder in environmental science and is a certified storm chaser who goes around in a batmobile hybrid, Breeze (yes, in a film centered around a storm, one of the principle characters is called Breeze) has become the town slacker, womaniser, and it’s only mechanic. He’s also the only civilian left in town when another mega hurricane hits it, prompting a visit from his estranged brother. Also, as he is also in charge of maintaining the spare generators of a federal agency housing a giant shredder existing on the outskirts of their fictional town, he conveniently becomes central to the plot. Taking advantage of the bad weather, the town’s corrupt police force team-up with a group of new-age thieves to loot the 600 million or so in used notes waiting to be shredded. The only hurdle in their otherwise flawless plan is the straight-laced treasury agent Casey (Maggie Grace), who instinctively changes the vault’s code before setting off to find a mechanic needed to repair the spare generator. Breeze is taken hostage and Will and Casey join forces to rescue him and stop the heist from succeeding.

The film is primarily targeted at people who love such flicks as Sharknado or Snakes On A Plane. There is no hint at subtlety anywhere, what with the main characters shouting out their intentions (because of the high intensity winds, you see) loud and clear. We come to know that their father’s death will have a lasting effect on the young kids because at that precise moment, the clouds come together to form a skull -- yes that’s the kind of dumbed-up stuff the film serves. Will uses one corny devise after the other to outsmart the bad guys, include using car hubcaps as missiles that do the maximum damage with gale force winds behind them. He also creates a pressure point within a mall that leaves him and Casey hanging out like kites from steel wires. The end sequence is straight out of the Fast and the Furious franchise, with a trio of trucks chasing each other with the storm on their backs.

The characters are purely one-dimensional to say the least. Toby Kebbell tries hard to play the scarred meteorologist who nevertheless chases storms but gives up the pretense halfway and becomes a straight-forward action star. He’s still the best among the lot, the rest of the the motley crew mostly go through the motions, knowing that they are playing second fiddle to the special effects. It would have been served the film’s appeal better if it was shot in IMAX 3D. The 2D effects aren’t bad but the 3D technology has spoilt us all and as a result the viewers will definitely feel short-changed.

Trailer : The Hurricane Heist

Zeenia Baria, March 9, 2018, 8:43 PM IST

critic's rating: 3.5/5

Story: A federal agent and meteorologist team up to stop a daring heist in the US Department of the Treasury as a hurricane threatens to destroy the area

Review: As a category 5 hurricane looms over the sleepy town of Gulfport, Alabama, residents are compelled to evacuate the area by local authorities. Meteorologist Will Rutledge (Toby Kebbell), who has been sent to collect reports on the approaching storm, is trying to convince his brother Breeze (Ryan Kwanten) to leave town with him. On the other hand, Agent Casey (Maggie Grace), who is in charge of transporting old currency notes to the US Department of the Treasury, is unaware that there has been a massive internal security breach. Using the hurricane as an opportunity to break into the treasury is a team of crooks, led by Agent Perkins (Ralph Ineson). As circumstances bring Will and Casey together, they have to not only figure out ways to stop $600 million from being taken out of the facility, but also save their own lives as the hurricane unleashes its fury and the bad guys threaten to kill them. The script rarely gives you a moment to think beyond what you’re watching on screen. Director Rob Cohen does a good job of keeping the pace swift while most characters do justice to their roles. Grace stands out as the agent hell-bent on outwitting Perkins and his gang. Kebbell and Kwanten, as two brothers separated by a childhood tragedy, but still fond of each other, are interesting to watch as they rekindle their bond.
The action, though not outstanding, does its job while the special effects competently show the destruction the mighty hurricane is capable of. Thankfully, there is no forced romance between any of the characters — something that we’re often saddled with at the end in thriller flicks. Although predictable in some parts — the flashback at the start of the film in this case — you don’t mind overlooking it. Keeping in mind how several US states were in the news last year for being battered by a string of hurricanes, this film shows us just how devastating they can be. More than just a regular ‘save the earth’ film, this one combines an offbeat plot with some decent special effects to make it an interesting watch.